Changing DB9 steering wheel

[MaverickV12]

I had this for Christmas .....



I had my eye on a steering wheel because my old one was perfectly smooth



This description is what I did to change MY steering wheel, this is not ment as a technical decription of how to change a steering wheel, my advice regarding this is to seek professional help when undertaking this work. This description is only what I did, it is NOT a guide .....

There are 2 Torques bolts that hold the AirBag to the wheel, these can only be accessed when you remove the top cover to the steering rack, this is easier that you think. I did not have to remove the whole casing, only the top and this was easily accessed by turning the wheel and showing the 4 philips screw heads. I undid the 4 screws and the top of the rack cover just comes off. Then I could access the Torque bolts, they were entered at an angle and I found it easier to look through the window screen and undo them.

Then I was faced with .....



At this stage I could still have the ignition on, but not for much longer.

The AirBag is connected by 2No 2Pin plugs, quite basic really.....



The photo above is showing one pin with the clip on and one with the clip off.

Once I (bearing in mind this description is what I did and not a guide for other people to follow - as my advice is to seek professional help when changing their steering wheel), removed the pins connections, I was left with this .........



Then I could remove the big bolt in the middle, I think it's called the Jesus Bolt, because if it comes off ..... which left me with ........



From here on in it was a simple case of refitting the new steering wheel, making sure the wheels are in a straight line. Otherwise the steering wheel would be at an angle and look terrible.

I found it easy here on in, Put on new steering wheel, do up Jesus Bolt, nice and tight, reconnect AirBag, whilst taking time to be careful, reinsert the Torque bolts and then I ended up with ..........



I obvioulsy don't mind giving an explaination as to what I did and its procedure, but obvioulsy I'm not giving any description of how you should do it, because I don't want anyone saying that they followed my description and the steering wheel came off in their hand on the M1.

Whilst the procedure was relatively straight forward, for people out there that only check their oil, then it can be a bit of a bridge too far, especially playing with the AirBag, hence my formal advice to anyone is that they should seek professional help when changing a steering wheel.

For me, I did it quite easy, and I changed my old very shiny steering wheel for a new DBS one with brand new leather on it. The guy that was selling it had a brand new DBS, and changed his wheel for a Alcantara one and thus this wheel had only done about 200 miles, and (obvioulsy) having had a very close look, I can agree that it's brand new.

I'm happy

[DangerMonkey]

MaverickV12 said:

From here on in it was a simple case of refitting the new steering wheel, making sure the wheels are in a straight line. Otherwise the steering wheel would be at an angle and look terrible.


I'm happy

Apart from worrying about the airbag that's the biggy for me, I've done a steering wheel change and got the alignment slightly out, result being I had to go through the whole ball ache again. If the wheels aren't absolutely dead straight at the beginning it's a good idea to make some sort of (chalk/crayon?) mark on the wheel/mount for the center so the new one is easy to line up correctly.

Great write up btw, thanks for sharing.

[MaverickV12]

DangerMonkey said:

I've done a steering wheel change and got the alignment slightly out, result being I had to go through the whole .....

Thanks. It's easier than you think, the steering wheel is an hexagonal fixing, so it only goes on one (well 6 ways) way. When I undid the bolt the wheel becomes very lose, so it's not a case of a tight fit hexagon and the bolt being a safeguard. The bolt, "proper", holds the steering wheel on. There really is no need for chalk marks etc, its easier than you think - as long as you give it some thought in the beginning.

[dmhort23]

Great right up Maverick and Happy New Year to you.

My steering wheel is beginning to wear at the top so going to buy a new one this month. Like your old one mine is smooth, I like the look of the new wheel, may I ask where you acquired it from?

Regards

DH

[yeti]

Is that a DBS wheel or a Vantage wheel? Big improvement over a standard DB9 anyway, the rim is too thin I find.

[V8 Animal]

yeti said:

Is that a DBS wheel or a Vantage wheel? Big improvement over a standard DB9 anyway, the rim is too thin I find.

Is there a difference? i say that because i think my DBS wheel is smaller than my old Vantage wheel but it could be the alcantara throwing me out.

I take it the alcantara wheel is a upgrade and not std on a DBS?

Good write up on the replacement wheel i don't think many of us would have the balls to try this

[MaverickV12]

dmhort23, I got the wheel from eBay, but I had to wait a while to get one. They pop up every now and then, but this one was a new one and had both the radio control and cruise control on them. I'm waiting for a chap near us to get his act together as I understand he will be getting Aston wheels and retrimming them as you want without costing a small fortune. As soon as I know he is up and running I'll let you know.

yeti, it is a DBS wheel, at least that is what the chap advertised it as, he was changing it for alcantara, I am guessing the alcantara wheel is thinner as the alcantara is a lot thinner than leather.

There is somehting important I failed to mention .......

I undestand that you should NOT turn your ignition on whilst the AirBag is disconnected. I understand the car does a check of itself, finds a AirBag fault, and then throws that up on your dash board. I was very careful not to turn it on so I was gobsmacked when this appeared......



Utterly confused as to why this would happen I could not work it out. Within about 30 minutes of reading everythign I could read about it, (and I couldn't find much), I worked it out. When I took the wheel off, I relaxed and went to make myself a cup of tea ....... Mistake number 1...

I told my 2 little helpers not to touch anything, and they did not. But when later questioned I asked them again, and they confirmed they didn't touch anything at all, they only turned the radio on to listen to music whilst I went inside. So they had turned the ignition on, it sent a charge through the car and found a fault .... Mistake number 2 .....

OK, I went to a local garage that does my car and he turned the light off for me at no charge. Thank you local garage

I'm now looking for the software to enable me to resolve such a problem myself without redress to a garage. My normal OBDII does not even touch the AirBag and only sorts out the normal engine stuff.

Any ideas?

[V8 Animal]

Central heated garage or have you emigrated?

[Jockman]

Now THIS is the positive Maverick I know and love - great post, though somewhat scary to a moisturiser like me

[Gibberish]

Good post Maverick. Have you now got fully functioning steering wheel buttons with cruise, radio volume etc..?

Also glad to see you haven’t been put off, despite some disparaging remarks made in a recent thread.

Well done and keep posting!

[Lunablack]

Jockman said:

Now THIS is the positive Maverick I know and love - great post, though somewhat scary to a moisturiser like me

Just for clarification Phil...... The item in the first pic under the steering wheel is a socket set.

[Neil1300R]

Top work. Not something I would attempt myself - moving parts
good to see yet another Maverick taking his car apart thread with obligatory packet of headache tablets in the background

[Tricky Ravenglas]

Very brave Maverick and very interesting but cannot see me doing the same any time soon. The thought of the airbag potential problems enough to put me off. Well done

[cmcfirm]

Hey Maverick! Thanks for the writeup. I am planning to do this on my 05 DB9 too. I see you added radio volume buttons after the swap. Was it plug and play and did they work after the swap? My wheel is like yours, only cruise control. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[DB9VolanteDriver]

According to physics, you can’t travel back in time, only forward.